We love sharing our story and hope you will enjoy reading about us. Here at Blink we are passionate about people, the environment and the community - and, of course, coffee! Meet the people behind Blink and learn about our vision & mission statement, our pledge to the environment and our philosophy on selling local products.
"The town is so small that if you 'Blink' you will miss it"
The idea of opening a coffee shop came to Nathalie during one of her many visits to Mesa from Chicago. After buying a log cabin in Mesa in 2000, she visited several times a year and would always find herself looking for a fantastic cup of coffee or a quick meal on the go. When Nathalie's mother, Laura Sudler, came to visit she said the same thing, "how perfect would it be if Mesa had place for coffee, salads, and sandwiches to go?" They both felt a casual local meeting place would be great in Mesa - a place for book clubs to meet or a comfortable spot to sit by a fire and read the paper.
Being the business women they are, Nathalie & Laura brainstormed for a while, spoke to local friends and decided to open a coffee shop together as partners. The vision they had was a warm and inviting meeting place with a fireplace, sofas and tables, great coffee & tea drinks, baked goods, salads & sandwiches to go and fun retail items for sale. In 2002, Laura and Nathalie bought a corner location in the center of town for the not-yet-named coffee shop. In 2005, the name 'Blink' came to life when Nathalie and friends were talking about how wonderful the town of Mesa is. For those of you who do not know it, Mesa is quite a small town. Nathalie said "The town is so small that if you 'blink' you will miss it" ... and that is how it all began.
It took from 2003 to 2007 to get permits, create the business concept and logo, develop the site plan, and find the right coffees, foods and baked goods. In November of 2007, construction and preparations were completed and Blink finally opened its doors to the community.
Blink Coffee Company: Our People
The Blink Coffee Company team includes management and staff with a strong vision and decades of combined experience in the business. Read below to learn more about the people behind Blink. To see our team in action, visit the Staff page in Blink's photo gallery.
Laura Sudler, Nathalie's mother, always had a strong connection to the west, especially Colorado and Wyoming. When Laura was a child during World War II, her father would send the children from Chicago to Aspen and Dubois out of fear that the big cities might be bombed. The mountains were a safe haven for everyone. In the early days Laura remembers riding horses on the dirt roads of Aspen, seeing wild animals roam the streets and the introduction of skiing to Aspen Mountain. Much has changed since then!
Many of Nathalie's earliest memories include Colorado. Both sides of her family have a strong tie to Colorado. Her father, Bill Ames, lived on a ranch outside of Snowmass for many years. Nathalie and her older sisters, Jenny & Mary, spent summers visiting their Dad and Step-Mom, Nancy Ames, (who were married in Dillon, CO in 1971) at their log cabin. Nathalie has many fond memories of her childhood in Colorado - including learning how to fly fish, camping in the mountains, riding horses, river rafting and appreciating the beautiful natural surroundings.
Because of this connection, Nathalie always knew she wanted a place out west to share with her daughter, Laura Ames. While white water rafting through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River in May of 2000, she was fortunate to meet some local friends who introduced her to Mesa, Colorado. In September 2000 Nathalie visited Mesa from Chicago (where she currently lives and practices real estate - (www.NathalieAmes.com). She instantly fell in love with the area, the people and the community. Nathalie's daughter, Laura, loves Mesa too. She has experienced many of the same adventures Nathalie did as a child (horseback riding and camping) along with some new ones of her own. It is exciting for Nathalie to see Laura starting her own traditions. The passion for Colorado continues...
We have a fantastic manager at Blink Coffee Company in Mesa. Lorraine Ball, the Director of Operations, has over 15 years of in-depth experience with all aspects of the coffee business. A few of her responsibilities include Blink store operations, barista training, menu development and retail management.
Our friendly and knowledgeable barista staff is always ready to welcome you with a smile and a warm cup of coffee or tea. Stop in today to meet them and find out what is brewing at Blink. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Our Vision
To create a positive and vital gathering place that is central to the communities where Blink stores are located.
Our mission is to establish Blink Coffee Company as a major provider of top quality products and services to the town of Mesa, Colorado and other surrounding communities. This includes maintaining positive relationships with the local people and keeping the small town "if you Blink you will miss it" values as we grow. Our mission will be guided by these 5 principles:
- Provide the best quality food, beverage and retail products available
- Create a positive, dedicated, upbeat work environment by treating all employees with respect, dignity, honesty and loyalty
- Create a warm, inviting, welcoming atmosphere for our customers
- Develop and promote a loyal, passionate customer base
- Support the community by hosting shows at Blink for local artists, promoting area events on the Blink website, offering free Wi-Fi internet, making donations to select community causes (outlined in the corporate giving policy) enhance
The concept of being "eco friendly" is nothing new to Nathalie. Nathalie earned her Bachelors of Science at the University of Vermont in 1989. She was in the School of Natural Resources and specialized in Environmental Studies. After graduation, Nathalie traveled alone around the world then got a job helping run an environmental foundation (called The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation). She also worked as Assistant Editor for Conservation Digest for five years. These organizations gave funding to environmental groups and educated other foundations on environmental issues. Nathalie also taught environmental classes to inner city schools about recycling, reusing and reducing waste going into landfills in conjunction with the Nature Museum in Chicago.
With this environmental passion Nathalie and Laura envisioned Blink to be as ecologically friendly as possible. As noted below many of our supplies and products are ecologically friendly. We always serve organic milk in our coffee and tea products that require dairy. We also make an effort to purchase from as many 'local' vendors as possible. Buying locally saves on gas consumption while supporting local communities.
Eco Products (Boulder) supplies much of our service products and uses renewable resources such as 100% corn as opposed to petroleum-based plastic products. Corn plastic products can biodegrade in as little as 45 days in commercial composting facilities. Our plastic utensils are made from 100% potato starch also biodegrades within 45 days. All of our paper products are made from recycled paper.
